Return to
home Some 2.5 million Basques inhabited 4 provinces of
northern Spain and 3 provinces of southwest France, an area
measuring some 100 by 100 miles, about the size of New Hampshire.
The people refer to themselves as Euskaldunak, i.e. speakers of
Euskera, the Basque language.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.T4)(SSFC, 8/21/05, p.D6)
In 2000 the Euskera language was spoken by about 30% of the Basque
people.
(WSJ, 12/4/00, p.A20)778
Aug 15, At the Battle at Roncesvalles the Basques
beat Charlemagne.
(PC, 1992, p.67)

1321 In the Battle of Beotibar
the Guipuzcoans defeated the Navarrese in the Basque region of
Spain. Part of the lore connected with the battle is the valour
shown by the Loyola brothers, ancestors of Ignatius of Loyola,
founder of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits.
(GenIV, Winter
04/05)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beotibar)

1937 Apr 26, German planes from
the Condor Legion--sent to Spain by Adolf Hitler to help fascist
General Francisco Franco overthrow the communist Popular Front
regime-- attacked the Basque town of Guernica in Spain. Bombs fell
for three hours and escaping villagers were shot down by
machine-gun fire from the air. The attack killed as many as
1,600-1,650 Basque civilians and injured 900. Although the alleged
target was a bridge of military significance some distance from the
town, dazed survivors described a merciless four-hour bombing and
strafing attack by German pilots directed toward the village and its
inhabitants. The Guernica atrocity became synonymous with the horror
of modern warfare and inspired one of the 20th century's greatest
works of art, Guernica, by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.
(440 Intíl., 4/26/97, p.2)(WSJ, 4/28/97,
p.A1)(AP, 4/26/98)(HNPD, 4/26/99)

1958 Dec, Julen Madariaga
helped found ETA. EKIN (engage), a Basque nationalist group,
transformed into Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (E.T.A., Basque Homeland and
Freedom). ETA was the only armed group that emerged in the Spanish
state during Francoism [see July 31, 1959].
(www.cla.wayne.edu/polisci/kdk/westeurope/sources/birtheta.html)(Econ,
9/11/10, p.62)

1959 Jul 31, In Spain dissident
student members of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), inspired by
Marxist-Leninist teachings, formally founded ETA, which stands for
Euskadi ta Askatasuna, meaning Basque Fatherland and Liberty in the
Basque language. Its founders focused on Gen. Francisco Franco's
suppression of the Basque language and culture.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA)(AP,
7/30/09)(www.cfr.org/publication/9271/)

1968 The ETA, Basque Homeland
and Freedom, a Basque separatist group, began fighting for
independence. Its political wing was Herri Batasuna.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.A11)(SFC, 7/21/97, p.A10)

1983 Dec, Segundo Marey, a
French furniture dealer, was kidnapped from his home in France as a
suspected Basque terrorist. In 1998 former Interior Minister Jose
Barrionuevo and Rafael Vera, former director of state security, were
arrested for the kidnapping and misappropriation of government funds
for the crimes along with Julian Sancristobal, former civil governor
of Vizcaya province.
(SFC, 7/30/98, p.A16)

1983-1987 Spain waged a "dirty war" against Basque
rebels. A former interior minister and 11 others went on trial in
1998 for kidnapping linked to the war in which 27 [28] people were
killed. The killings were attributed to the Anti-Terrorist
Liberation Groups known as GAL.
(SFC, 6/13/96, p.C3)(WSJ, 5/26/98, p.A1)(SFC,
6/24/98, p.A12)

1986 Jul 14, In Spain Jose
Ignacio De Juana Chaos (b.1955), a former police officer who joined
one of ETA's most active commando units, took part in a Madrid car
bombing. The car bomb on Repķblica Dominicana Square killed 12 Civil
Guard policemen. 45 people were wounded.
(AP,
8/2/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C3%B1aki_de_Juana_Chaos)

1987 Jun 19, In Spain a bombing
killed 21 people and injured 45. In 2003 two top members of the
outlawed Basque separatist group ETA were sentenced to 790 years in
prison. The Hipercor bombing was a car bomb attack by the Basque
separatist organisation ETA at the Hipercor shopping centre on
Avinguda Meridiana, Barcelona, Spain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Hipercor_bombing)(AP, 7/26/03)

1988 The intelligence agency,
CESID, kidnapped 3 street people to test an experimental
tranquilizer they hoped to use on a fugitive Basque separatist
leader.
(SFC, 9/18/96, p.A10)

1992 Leaders of the Basque
Separatist Group (ETA) were captured. The acronym stands for Basque
Homeland and Liberty.
(WSJ, 1/3/96, p.A-6)

1996 Jun 12, Judge Jose Jimenez
Alfaro lost most of his right hand when a letter bomb exploded at
his courthouse in Madrid. He had sent policemen to jail for Spainís
"dirty war" war on Basque rebels in the 1980s.
(SFC, 6/13/96, p.C3)

1996 Jul 20, The Basque
separatist group ETA set off 3 bombs at tourist sites. One at the
airport of Reus, and 2 at the beach resorts of Cambrils and Salou.
(SFC, 7/21/96, p.A18)

1997 Jul 13, In San Sebastian
Miguel Angel Blanco (29), a Basque town councilor and low-ranking
member of the Popular Party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, died
of head wounds from the ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom, a Basque
separatist group. Almost 800 people have died since the ETA began
fighting in 1968.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.A11)

1997 Jul 14, More than 2
million people took to the streets across Spain to mourn the death
of Miguel Angel Blanco and to condemn the Basque separatist
guerrillas who killed him.
(SFC, 7/15/97, p.A10)

1997 Jul 27, In San Sebastian,
some 30,000 marched in support of the ETA separatist movement.
(SFC, 7/28/97, p.A11)

1997 Oct 14, A separatist
guerrilla group killed a policeman while trying to bomb the new
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Jose Maria Aguirre was killed when he
helped foil the ETA attack. One of three gunmen, Kepa Arronnategui,
was captured.
(SFC,10/16/97, p.A14)(SFC,10/18/97, p.A10)

1997 Oct 18, There was an
attempt to assassinate Spain's King Juan Carlos. In 2011 British
officers arrested Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui (44), a suspected
Basque separatist, in connection with the attempted assassination.
(AFP, 7/7/11)

1997 Oct 19, In Bilbao the new
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened. The 256,000 sq. ft. titanium,
limestone and glass structure was designed by American
(Canadian-born) architect Frank Gehry and funded entirely by the
Basque regional government under the direction of Thomas Krens,
director of the Guggenheim.
(WSJ, 7/2/96, p.A12)(USAT, 10/8/97, p.1D)(WSJ,
10/16/97, p.A20)

1997 Dec 5, In San Sebastian a
politicianís bodyguard was shot to death hours before authorities
arrested 19 of 23 leaders of the pro-Basque independence party,
Herri Batasuna. Protestors also commandeered a bus and burned it.
(SFC,12/6/97, p.A8)

1997 Dec 11, Jose Luis Caso, a
former town councilor in Renteria, was killed by two suspected
Basque separatists in Irun.
(SFC,12/12/97, p.B6)

1997 Dec 27, In Bilbao
thousands marched on behalf of the 23 Basque separatists of the
Herri Batasuna separatist group, who were recently sentenced to 7
years each in prison.
(SFEC,12/28/97, p.A18)

1998 Aug 31, Jose Antonio
Ardanza, 14-year president of the Basque country, dissolved the
regional parliament and set elections for Oct 25. He urged ETA
extremists to lay down their arms.
(SFC, 9/1/98, p.A9)

1999 Mar 20, Some 60,000 people
marched in Bilbao to protest recent arrests of members and
supporters of the ETA.
(SFEC, 3/21/99, p.A23)

1999 Nov 28, The Basque ETA
announced that it would end a 14-month cease-fire due to inaction
over their call for independence.
(SFC, 11/29/99, p.A12)

1999 Nov, In Spain Ekin, a
civic support organization for the Basque separatist group ETA, was
formed with the aim of "impelling independence, nation-building and
socialism at street level." On Oct 1, 2011, the Gara newspaper's
website said two unidentified spokesmen told it that "Ekin members
have ended their endeavors as an organization."
(AP, 10/1/11)

1999 Dec 22, Police found a 2nd
van loaded with 1,650 pounds of explosives in Alhama de Aragon. Two
days earlier a van, bound for Madrid, was stopped with 1,980 pounds
of explosives.
(SFC, 12/24/99, p.A20)

2001 Nov 7, Judge Jose Maria
Lidon Corbi was shot to death as he drove out of his garage in
Gexto, a suburb of Bilbao. The ETA was held responsible.
(SFC, 11/8/01, p.A19)

2002 Mar 21, A local Spanish
official was shot to death by gunmen in the Basque region. Police
suspected the ETA.
(WSJ, 3/22/02, p.A1)

2002 Jun 22, Two new bombs
rocked Spain's tourist coasts, making five in two days that the
government blamed on Basque separatist group ETA trying to disrupt a
European Union summit in Seville.
(Reuters, 6/22/02)

2002 Aug 19, Eduardo Chillida
(78), Basque sculptor, died. He created monumental works and
promoted peace in the Basque region. His work included "The Comb of
the Winds," an iron tangle in San Sebastian.
(SFC, 8/21/02, p.A19)

2002 Sep 24, In Spain a
booby-trapped sign bearing the logo of the armed Basque separatist
group ETA exploded, killing one police officer and wounding three
others.
(AP, 9/24/02)

2002 Dec 22, In Spain tens of
thousands of people marched in silence through the coastal city of
Bilbao to demand the dissolution of the armed Basque separatist
group ETA.
(AP, 12/22/02)

2003 Feb 20, In Spain
police shut down the daily Egunkaria, a Basque-language newspaper,
and arrested its editor-in-chief and 10 other executives on
suspicion of aiding the armed separatist group ETA.
(AP, 2/20/03)

2004 Feb 18, The armed Basque
separatist group ETA unilaterally declared a cease-fire for the
northeastern region of Catalonia, but the move was immediately
criticized by Spain's prime minister and politicians who refuse to
negotiate with the militant group.
(AP, 2/18/04)

2004 Feb 29, Spain averted a
bombing by the Basque separatist group ETA after the Civil Guard
stopped a small truck and found about 1,100 pounds of bomb-making
chemicals.
(AP, 2/29/04)

2004 Mar 11, In Madrid, Spain,
a series of bombs hidden in backpacks exploded in quick succession
at 3 stations, blowing apart four commuter trains and killing 202
people and wounding over 1,450. Spanish leaders were quick to accuse
Basque terrorists but a shadowy group claimed responsibility in the
name of al-Qaida. The toll was later adjusted to 190 dead
(WSJ, 3/12/04, p.A1)(AP, 3/13/04)(SFC, 3/13/04,
p.A1)(SFC, 3/19/04, p.A3)(AP, 3/23/04)

2004 Mar 21, Spain's incoming
Socialist government rejected an offer for dialogue from the Basque
separatist group ETA.
(AP, 3/21/04)

2004 Oct 3, Two of Spain's most
wanted alleged terrorists and at least 16 other suspected members of
the armed Basque separatist group ETA were captured in a vast
French-Spanish police operation. Mikel ďAntza" Albizu Iriarte was
arrested with his girlfriend Soledad Genetxea.
(AP, 10/3/04)(Econ, 10/9/04, p.48)

2004 Nov 16, Spanish police
arrested 17 suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group
ETA in a series of pre-dawn raids in northern Spain.
(AP, 11/16/04)

2004 Dec 6, In Spain bombs
injured at least 18 people in 7 cities following warnings from
callers claiming to represent the Basque separatist group ETA.
(WSJ, 12/7/04, p.A1)

2005 Jan 16, The armed Basque
separatist group ETA threw its weight behind an initiative by its
political wing to open dialogue with the Spanish government on
solving the Basque problem.
(AP, 1/16/05)

2005 Feb 9, In Spain a car bomb
exploded in a business park on the outskirts of Madrid just after
the morning rush hour, injuring 43 people. Government officials
blamed the Basque separatist group ETA.
(AP, 2/9/05)

2005 Feb 17, Spanish police
arrested two suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group
ETA in Valencia, seizing explosives that they planned to use for
imminent attacks.
(AP, 2/17/05)

2005 Apr 10, Spanish police
seized a cache of explosives in an operation against the armed
Basque separatist group ETA one week before a Basque regional
election.
(AP, 4/10/05)

2005 Apr 17, In northern Spain
the Basque region's ruling nationalists faced a test of their drive
to secure more autonomy as elections got under way. The Basque
Nationalist Party (PNV), led by Juan Jose Ibarretxe, lost 4 seats.
(AP, 4/17/05)(Econ, 4/23/05, p.51)

2005 May 25, A powerful car
bomb exploded in Madrid after a warning call from the armed Basque
separatist group ETA. 18 people were injured.
(AP, 5/25/05)

2008 May 19, Suspected members
of a Basque separatist group allegedly exploded a car bomb in a
northern Basque town, causing considerable damage but no injuries.
(AP, 5/19/08)

2008 May 20, Xavier Lopez Pena
(49), the suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA, was
detained along with three other suspected ETA members in a sweep on
an apartment in the French city of Bordeaux just before midnight.
(AP, 5/21/08)

2008 Nov 17, French police
arrested ETA's alleged military chief, the most wanted Basque
separatist still at large and a man Spanish officials branded a
"bloodthirsty terrorist." Miguel De Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina (35),
alias "Txeroki", was captured in Cauterets, a spa and ski resort in
the Pyrenees near the border with Spain's autonomous Basque region.
(AFP, 11/17/08)

2008 Dec 3, In Spain's northern
Basque region suspected ETA separatists shot and killed a
businessman in the first attack linked to the group since the arrest
of its military chief last month.
(AP, 12/3/08)

2008 Dec 8, French police
arrested the suspected military chief and "No. 1 member" of ETA, a
new blow to the banned Basque militant group just weeks after his
alleged predecessor was caught.
(AP, 12/9/08)

2009 Feb 9, Spain's interior
minister blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA for an
explosion in the east of Madrid, which police said caused extensive
damage but no casualties.
(AP, 2/9/09)

2009 Mar 1, Basque voters chose
a new government in Spain's most turbulent region, and for the first
time the ruling Basque Nationalist Party saw a strong challenge from
the Socialists.
(AP, 3/1/09)

2009 Apr 18, French and Spanish
security forces thwarted a new ETA attack with the arrest of Jurdan
Martitegi, the military chief of the Basque separatist group, and
eight other suspected members.
(AFP, 4/19/09)
2009 Apr 18, Jon Anza Ortunez
(47), a member of the armed Basque group ETA, was last seen. ETA
blamed Spanish police for a role in his disappearance ó a claim
Spain denied. ETA said Anza had been transporting a large sum of
money between the French cities of Bayonne, which is not far from
the border with Spain, and Toulouse for the group when he vanished.
In 2010 his body turned up in a morgue in France. French officials
told Anza's family that he had fallen ill on a street on April 29
and was taken to a hospital in Toulouse, where he died May 11. At
the time, no one was reportedly able to identify him.
(AP, 3/12/10)

2009 Jun 19, In Spain a
powerful bomb exploded near the Basque city of Bilbao, killing a
policeman in an attack blamed on the separatist group ETA.
(AP, 6/19/09)

2009 Aug 6, Juan Manuel
Inciarte Gallardo (55), a suspected member of the armed Basque group
ETA, was deported from Mexico and arrested in Spain, where he is
wanted for allegedly killing five Spanish police officers and a
pregnant wife of one of the officers. Inciarte allegedly took part
in the slaying of the five police officers and the pregnant wife of
one officer between 1983 and 1985. He was wanted on terrorism
charges.
(AP, 8/6/09)

2009 Aug 19, French police with
Spanish help detained three suspected members of Basque separatist
group ETA in a French Alps ski resort and seized material for making
explosives, after a series of bombings claimed by the group on the
Spanish island of Mallorca.
(AP, 8/19/09)

2010 Feb 5, Portuguese police
seized a large amount of explosives at a home being used by Basque
separatist group ETA as a base to prepare attacks in neighboring
Spain.
(AP, 2/5/10)

2010 Feb 28, The leader of the
armed Basque group ETA was arrested in France, in another setback
for the separatists, who have seen five of their commanders taken
into custody in the last two years. Eta chief Ibon Gogeascoechea and
two other suspected separatists, Jose Ayestaran and Beinat
Aginagalde, were arrested in a joint French-Spanish police operation
in the village of Cahan, France.
(AP, 2/28/10)(Econ, 3/6/10, p.69)

2010 Mar 16, A French policeman
(53) was killed outside Paris by a member of ETA, the Basque
separatist group. France's anti-terrorism police interrogated one
suspect and tried to track down at least one other assailant who
escaped. A police official said the suspected ETA commando unit was
allegedly trying to steal cars when it was surprised by police.
(AP, 3/17/10)

2010 Mar 21, In Spain the
Basque armed separatist movement ETA said it is ready to move
forward on the path of political change, but it stopped short of
renouncing violence as demanded by the Spanish government.
(AFP, 3/21/10)

2010 May 20, French police
arrested the leader of Basque separatist group ETA and his second in
command, calling it an important blow but not a death knell for the
violent organization.
(AP, 5/20/10)

2010 May 21, Spain convicted 3
members of Basque separatist group ETA of detonating a car bomb at
Madrid airport in 2006 that killed two Ecuadorians.
(Reuters, 5/21/10)

2010 Jun 24, The Police Service
of Northern Ireland arrested Fermin Vila Michelena (40), a Basque
separatist, in central Belfast. Michelena faced three Spanish arrest
warrants over a string of ETA attacks. A ministry statement accused
Michelena of membership in an ETA terror cell that committed four
car-bomb attacks in Spain in 2001.
(AP, 6/25/10)

2010 Sep 5, The Basque
separatist militant group ETA declared a cease-fire in a video
statement, suggesting it might turn to a political process in its
quest for an independent homeland.
(AP, 9/5/10)

2010 Sep 6, The Spanish
government rejected a new ceasefire announcement by the separatist
group ETA and ruled out negotiations on an independent Basque
homeland, saying the militants have been decimated by arrests and
are desperate to regroup and rearm.
(AP, 9/6/10)

2010 Sep 19, Spainís armed
Basque separatist group ETA says it is willing to accept
international mediation to help solve its long-running conflict with
Spain's government. The statement came a day after the Spanish
newspaper El Pais released a video on its website believed to have
been filmed by ETA earlier this year as a training aid which shows a
hooded gunman practicing assassination techniques by shooting into a
car.
(AP, 9/19/10)

2010 Sep 26, In Spain the
Basque separatist group ETA said it is willing to declare a
permanent cease-fire, verified by international observers, in a bid
to settle the troubled region's long-running conflict with the
Spanish government.
(AP, 9/26/10)

2010 Dec 30, A Spanish court
convicted four Civil Guard police officers of torturing members of
the armed Basque group ETA who were arrested for bombing Madrid's
airport in 2006. the officers were found guilty of beating and
threatening Mattin Sarasola and Igor Portu after they were taken
into custody in 2008.
(AP, 12/30/10)

2011 Jan 8, In Spain tens of
thousands of people marched in the Basque region to protest the
government policy of shipping separatist prisoners convicted of
terror to jails far from their homes.
(AP, 1/8/11)

2011 Jan 10, The militant
Basque separatist group ETA declared a permanent cease-fire in what
it called a firm step toward ending its bloody decades-long
independence fight, but Spain's government quickly dismissed the
announcement and demanded ETA disband outright.
(AP, 1/10/11)

2011 Jan 11, Police in Spain
and France arrested two suspected members of ETA, suggesting the
government in Madrid will keep up pressure on the violent Basque
separatist group despite the latter's declaration of a permanent
cease-fire.
(AP, 1/11/11)

2011 Feb 5, In Spain several
hundred Basque separatists held small street rallies, hung posters
and painted political graffiti on walls throughout the troubled
northern region to support a new political party to be launched next
week.
(AP, 2/5/11)

2011 Feb 7, In Spain Basque
separatists launched Sortu (ďCreate") a new political party they say
rejects violence by the armed group ETA, in an unprecedented step
designed to move the troubled region toward peace.
(AP, 2/7/11)(Econ, 2/26/11, p.56)

2011 Mar 1, Spanish police
arrested four suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group
ETA they believe may have been behind several attacks in recent
years.
(AP, 3/1/11)

2011 Mar 10, In France the
suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA's armed cells
and three other alleged members of the organization were arrested in
Willencourt in northern Pas-de-Calais region. They included
Alejandro Zobaran Arriola (29), who an Interior Ministry statement
described as the head of ETA's "military apparatus." Another was the
alleged logistics chief, Mikel Oroz Torrea (31).
(AP, 3/11/11)

2011 Apr 2, In Spain tens of
thousands of people demonstrated in the troubled Basque region,
calling for the government to legalize a new pro-independence party
that says it rejects violence by armed separatist group ETA.
(AP, 4/2/11)

2011 Apr 10, Police in central
France arrested a man and a woman allegedly linked to the Basque
separatist group ETA following a pair of weekend shooting incidents
against officers that injured at least one.
(AP, 4/10/11)

2011 Jul 7, British officers
arrested Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui (44), a suspected Basque
separatist, in connection with a 1997 attempted assassination of
Spain's King Juan Carlos. The arrest came a day after the arrest of
ETA suspect Daniel Derguy on terrorism charges in Cahors, France.
(AFP, 7/7/11)

2011 Oct 1, In Spain the Gara
newspaper's website said two unidentified spokesmen told it that
"Ekin members have ended their endeavors as an organization." Ekin,
a civic support organization for the Basque separatist group ETA,
was formed in 1999 with the aim of "impelling independence,
nation-building and socialism at street level."
(AP, 10/1/11)

2012 Jan 14, In Spain Jose Luis
Alvarez Enparantza (b.1927), one of the founders of Basque
separatist group ETA, died. His work "Leturiaren Egunkari Ezkutua"
is regarded as the first modern novel written in Basque.
(AP, 1/14/12)

2012 Jan 15, Spainís Interior
Ministry said French police acting alongside Spanish counterparts
have arrested three men at a railway station in France on suspicion
of belonging to Basque separatist group ETA. They were identified as
Jon Echeverria Oyarbide (33), Ruben Rivero Campo, and Inigo Sancho
Marco.
(AP, 1/15/12)

2013 Jan 3, The Basque
nationalist group known as Batasuna, legal in France but banned in
Spain, announced that it is dissolving after 11 years.
(AP, 1/3/13)

2013 Mar 30, Xabier Lopez Pena
(alias Thierry), a former leader of armed Basque separatist group
ETA, died from a stroke in a French hospital.
(AP, 3/30/13)

2013 Oct 21, Europe's top human
rights court ordered Spain to release a Basque separatist militant,
saying her extended detention was illegal, a ruling victims groups
warned would let dozens of prisoners walk free. Ines del Rio was
jailed in 1989 for her role in 23 assassinations and car bombings
carried out by the Basque independence movement ETA.
(Reuters, 10/21/13)

2013 Oct 27, In Spain several
thousand people gathered in downtown Madrid to protest the release
from jail of Basque separatists, convicted of attacks but freed
under a European Court of Human Rights ruling.
(AP, 10/27/13)

2013 Nov 8, A Spanish court
ordered nine imprisoned members of the Basque militant group ETA
freed to comply with a controversial European rights ruling made
last month.
(AFP, 11/8/13)

2014 Jan 11, In Spain tens of
thousands of protesters marched in Bilbao in support of jailed
members of the Basque separatist group ETA. A high court judge had
vetoed the march, which was initially organized by prisoners'
supporters to call for inmates to be moved to jails closer to their
homes.
(Reuters, 1/11/14)

2014 Feb 21, In Spain
international mediators said the armed Basque separatist group ETA
has placed a small quantity of guns and explosives out of use in
what is seen as a first step toward an unconditional total
disarmament.
(AP, 2/21/14)

2014 Jun 8, In Spain tens of
thousands of Basques held hands to form a 123-km chain stretching
across the northern Spanish region calling for the right to hold a
vote on independence.
(Reuters, 6/8/14)